


Little Birdy

by Thealmostrhetoricalquestion



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Jumpers, M/M, Sharing Clothes, Supportive Harry Potter, Teddy is a Sad-Sack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 18:22:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16023419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thealmostrhetoricalquestion/pseuds/Thealmostrhetoricalquestion
Summary: James left his Quidditch jumper at the bottom of their bed before he left for the weekend, and Teddy misses him far too much to ignore an invitation like that.





	Little Birdy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoldenTruth813](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenTruth813/gifts).



> ayyyy thanks for the prompt Janel, if you happen to read this!! here is some mindless softness! <3

Teddy wears James's Quidditch jumper to the Burrow. He’s not really thinking - it’s been a long-arse week and his hands are stained with ink from the numerous piles of paperwork that clutter his office at home and at work. He knows his hair is a mess, semi-clean but definitely untidy, and a dull brown. He’s tired and his mind is a bit of a haze, which is the only explanation for why Teddy wears it to the Burrow. 

James left his Quidditch jumper at the bottom of the bed before he left for the weekend. Three nights of intensive training before the season begins, and yeah, three nights isn’t much, in the grand scheme of things, but three minutes feels like a long time when it’s time spent without James. The flat feels empty, and work seems to drain even more of his energy than usual, and at the end of it all there’s no James to come home to, singing in the kitchen and throwing his dirty socks at Teddy and kissing him before bundling him into the shower, making suggestive faces all the while. 

Teddy should not, by all rights, miss him this much, but he does. So he drags himself towards the Floo a few minutes before Grandma Molly’s impatient head will inevitably appear in the fire and accuse him of not looking after himself properly, and he wears James’s Quidditch jumper to the Burrow for tea. 

It’s soft, it’s warm, it’s  _ very  _ Gryffindor red, and the word Potter is spelt out on the back. It’s also a monumental mistake to wear it around people who like to hoard blackmail material like a bunch of eagle-eyed, greedy Nifflers. 

The first thing everyone does when they spot Teddy is some sort of double-take, purse their lips, and ask him how he is with a smile in their voice. Albus gives him a look when he sits down at the table that plainly states he thinks Teddy’s a bit of a sad-sack, and Teddy spears a potato defiantly as he burrows further into the jumper. It still smells a bit like James. Like grass and coffee, a bit like toothpaste. Maybe not everybody’s cup of tea, but Teddy’s pretty sure Amortentia smells sweetest when it smells like this. 

“Here you go, Teddy, love, I bought you a present down at the market the other day.”

Grandma Molly drops something heavy into his lap as she bustles past with a platter of Yorkshire Puddings. He really must look pathetic, if she’s giving him gifts for no reason. He doubts very much that it was intended for him, which means he needs to stop moping if she’s handing out what looks like a Crackling Candle to him just because he’s sad. 

Harry shoots him a bracing smile across the table, sleeve dripping with gravy, and Teddy decides to focus on him, rather than the abundance of snickering, judgemental cousins rapidly filling the kitchen as dinner begins. 

“You know he’s only been gone for a few days, yeah?” Albus says, glancing at him warily out of the corner of his eye as Teddy mashes his carrots with a fork. “And it’s only to Devon, to do some work? It’s not like he’s buggered off to the South Pole to marry his secret lover and he’s never coming back.”

Teddy doesn’t even bother looking at him. “Isn’t that James’s scarf I saw hanging up on the way in? I wonder who that could belong to.”

Albus makes a strangled, indignant noise and jabs his fork viciously into his Yorkshire Pudding. Teddy listens to him mutter and grumble for most of the meal, which is full of the usual chatter and noise that accompanies any Weasley-Potter feast. 

It’s missing one very particular voice, though, and because of that, it skyrockets high up the list of least enjoyable meals Teddy’s ever had, topped only by that time Freddie and Roxanne released a Grabby Gravy-Boat onto the table, and he ended up making an embarrassing trip to St Mungo’s. 

*

Harry catches him before he leaves. Teddy’s got the candle tucked under one arm and a Tupperware box full of leftovers, and he’s eager to get home to wallow in his misery in peace. He makes time for Harry though, not least because he’s being a bit of a dramatic sod, but also because it’s Harry, and he always makes time for his Godfather. 

“You sure you’re okay, Ted?”

Teddy smiles at him. “Yeah, just being stupid. He’s just so loud, usually, that it’s weird, living in a quiet flat again.”

It’s a bit of a joke, but Harry nods like he understands. “You always know when he’s there, so it must be impossible not to miss him. About the jumper…”

Teddy grimaces. “Yeah, I’ll be more careful next time. I’m not going to hear the end of it for weeks.”

“Try months,” Harry says drily. He claps Teddy on the arm. “Actually, I was going to say that it’s nice. I know it’s just a jumper, really, but I’m glad you two are open about it. That you trust us with knowing about you two, even with all the teasing.”

They’ve never really been ashamed of their relationship. It was a secret, at first, and there were some ups and downs, but they’ve come a long way since then. Teddy’s never going to stop being grateful for the fact that the rest of the family were nothing less than happy for them. Still, he guesses they don't really shout about it in ways like this - James still sits in his lap and makes lewd remarks and kisses him where everyone can see, but maybe it’s different when it’s Teddy, or when it’s the softer, more personal things. 

“I don't mind the teasing,” Teddy says, with a weak grin, and he knows Harry hears it for what he really means when he gets pulled into a tight hug. 

*

“A little birdy told me you’ve been pining away for your distant, lost love.”

Teddy briefly weighs the pros and cons of coming out from under the pillow. Pro - he gets to see James. Con - James will no doubt be accompanied by a smug, knowing smirk, if the smug, knowing tone of his voice is anything to go by.

Teddy wriggles out from his nest, flops over on his back and squints up at James, sheets twisted around his ankles. 

“Which birdy would that be?” Teddy asks, and he can’t help the way his voice goes soft and hungry as he drinks James in. He looks tired but happy, dressed in loose jeans and a battered shirt, his shoes already kicked off and his bags dumped by the door. 

“The scarf-stealing kind,” James says. He grins down at Teddy, shuffling closer. Teddy sees the moment when James spots what he’s wearing, and his heart kicks up a bit. James comes to a stop at the side of the bed and his hands drop to his sides. His mouth parts a little, and he rakes his eyes down Teddy in a burning, greedy gaze. 

“That,” James says, voice nice and low, “is a view I could get used to.”

He makes a frame in mid-air with his hands and wolf-whistles, and Teddy quickly decides that he’s had enough of not touching him, and reaches up to yank James down on top of him. James laughs when he falls, and the laugh swiftly turns into a sigh when he tucks his face into Teddy’s neck, relaxing. Teddy breathes him in. His hands quickly find their home at the small of James’s back, slipping under his shirt to rest over the dimples in his freckled skin. 

“Missed you,” Teddy says, muffling the words in James’s hair. “Even missed your awful singing and your disgusting socks.”

“Oi,” James mutters. “I haven’t even been back five minutes and you’re already insulting me. Keep it up and I’ll hide three days worth of Quidditch socks in your office and watch the smell drive you crazy.”

“Think it through, sweetheart. You’ll have to live with the crazy me.” Teddy presses a kiss to James’s temple, stopping his retort in his tracks. “I meant it, you know. I missed you.”

James sinks into the embrace, humming softly in agreement. It’s the only time he’s ever still and quiet, that Teddy’s ever seen, when they’re wrapped up together like this. The sex and the laughter and the everyday stuff; Teddy loves it all, but this, right here, is his favourite sort of moment. 

“I missed you too.” James hesitates. “You wore it, then?”

Teddy finds himself grinning fondly down at the mess of auburn hair. “Yeah, I wore your jumper, Jamie. Did you leave it out for me on purpose? I thought you just forgot it.”

James gives a half-hearted shrug and sits up, straddling Teddy. He plucks at the hem of the jumper, affecting a casual look that doesn’t fool Teddy in the slightest. 

“Nah. I just thought, you know. You might want to wear it.”

He keeps glancing at Teddy like he can’t quite believe it, a bit of awe in his eyes, a bit of hesitancy, and a lot of love. His ears are a little red, and they grow redder as Teddy slides his hands up James’s thighs to rest them on his hips. 

“Well, I’m wearing it.” Teddy grins up at him lazily. He can feel the stress and exhaustion from the past three days peel away. “I wore it a lot. I slept in it, and I embarrassed myself at dinner in it, and I wore it in our bed, and sometimes, when I was thinking of you, it was the only thing I was wearing.”

James perks up, interested. His ears are still red, and Merlin, Teddy loves him a lot. 

“Yeah?” James grins at him, leaning forward, caging him in, and Teddy feels one hand slip under the jumper to rest on soft, warm skin. “Any chance of a repeat performance of that?”

“Maybe. One condition, though.”

James raises an eyebrow when Teddy grins up at him widely. 

“Next time you go away, you have to take my old Hufflepuff shirt with you. I want a piece of me with you, in case you get the urge to bugger off to the South Pole and marry someone else.”

James’s eyes crinkle, and his laugh is bemused, but warm. “That’s a condition I can get behind. Just for the record, though... I don't need a shirt to have a piece of you with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought! I'm @thealmostrhetoricalquestion pretty much everywhere if you wanna find me! Thanks! <3


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